Mari: Clear blueprint for creative economy

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said on Wednesday that Indonesia had a clear blueprint for developing its creative economy, promising that there would be no overlapping authorities.

“We will create synergy by having strong coordination with other ministries and we will be the coordinator on how to create a creative industry.”

The decree established 14 sub-sectors for the creative economy: arts and antique markets; the performing arts; handicrafts; film, video and photography; fashion; interactive games; advertising; design; software and computers; music; architecture; publishing; television and radio; and research and development.

Tourism-related subsectors would be managed by the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, while subsectors in grey areas, such as fashion, would be jointly managed by relevant ministries, Mari said.

Garment production, for example, would be handled by the Industry Ministry, garment sales and promotion would be under the Trade Ministry, while the creative aspects of garment production would fall under the produce the creative industry would be under the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry’s aegis, according to Mari.

“The benefit of a creative economy is that we will elevate the nation’s branding and create more jobs.”

Mari said the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry would develop new structures to better and more seriously manage creative economic development by creating several new directorates.

Creative industries contributed 7.28 percent to Indonesia’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010, up from 7.03 percent in 2009 and 6.97 percent in 2008, indicating that the industry had a good chance to grow in the future, she said.

Separately, deputy minister Sapta Nirwandar said the ministry was facing a tough challenge to boost tourism in Indonesia, given strong competition from nearby nations such as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

“Accelerating tourism in Indonesia is a must and should be done quickly because competition with neighboring countries is getting tighter,” Sapta told The Jakarta Post.

Indonesia should develop more tourist destinations and promote Indonesia to the world at the same time.

There are 12 Visit Indonesia Tourism Offices (VITO) across the globe, including offices in Australia, China, Germany, France, India, Malaysia, Russia and Singapore.

He said that the VITOs would continue to improve their sales mission, increase direct sales in malls and develop more promotions.

“We have seen good progress year by year after we developed VITOs because there has been at least a 15 percent increase in tourists coming to Indonesia from each country,” he said.

Eight million foreign tourists were expected to come to Indonesia in 2012, he said. (nfo)